The Best PDF Reader – Which One to Go For

Getting Started

Are you looking for the best application that you can use to read and open your PDF documents? Well, if so, then you are definitely in the right place. But before delving into the PDF reader application, what do we really mean by the term PDF?

In essence, a PDF document is more-or-less like a word document that can be used to store keyed-in text files, links and pictures for easy referencing in the future. Besides being used in the storage of a variety of content. PDF files also play the important role of maintaining/storing format. This is especially vital when you don’t want the content or format of the document to be easily changed.

Elements to Look for in a PDF Reader

In order to determine, which is the best PDF reader, first of all, it is important to know what you would, in your capacity, consider as “best”. Different people look for different tools or capabilities of the PDF reader, and it is on this basis that they get to define what is best for them. Some of the key considerations sought after in PDF readers include:

Speed of opening a PDF document

Size of the application (PDF reader) after installation

RAM usage (how heavy is it on the computer)

Customizability/ Tools in the reader (i.e. The ability to allow/disallow editing or even the conversion of the PDF document into other formats)

Which is the Best PDF Reader?

As glimpsed in the section above, “best” is a relative term that means different things to different people, as far as PDF readers are concerned. In today’s technology market, there are hundreds of PDF readers used by various people. Below, however, is an alphabetically-arranged list of the most used and highly ranked PDF readers. It is from this list that you can choose the reader that you consider best for you.

1. Adobe Reader (Free/ Pay for Pro Pack)

This is arguably the most common and widely used PDF reader. In spite of being efficient in terms of being easy to use, navigating the document and having a number of tools; it is not very fast. Editing the document is also not easy, if not possible in most of its versions—unless you are looking for simple copy-pasting options

2. Foxit Reader

With an inbuilt support system for highlighting, editing and annotating the contents of most PDF documents; Foxit has cut a niche for itself for being a respected PDF reader. Foxit is also light, thus making it relatively fast. The downside of Foxit is that during installation, it tries to install some promotional toolbar on your browser and change your homepage.

3. Preview Reader (Free)

This is a PDF viewer offered freely by Apple and comes custom-included in the OS X. The unique ability to extract pages, drag and drop content, ability to preview many other file formats, annotate the document and even encrypt the contents is probably the reason is probably the reason it is loved by MAC users

4. PDF-Xchange (Free/ Pay for Pro Pack)

In spite of not being light. PDF-Xchange is a fast PDF reader. In addition, it has a lovely outlook and supports several customization/editing options of the PDF document—especially for less complex edits. It is no wander the reader is amongst the most loved PDF readers. As a note from most of its users, this reader works best on the Windows platform.

5. Sumatra (Free)

This is considerably one of the most lightweight PDF readers in existence today. It is also very user-friendly and fast, when opening PDF documents. Its ability to open several other document formats such as CBR. CBZ and Ebooks in Mobi and ePub formats makes it a great reader. However, it does not have any advance features or editing options for the opened documents.

And the Winner is…?

Going by the above information, it is no doubt that all-of-the-above PDF readers are great, in their own respect. The fact that all of them have free versions, with a few others necessitating some payments to obtain the Pro Pack, gives you an opportunity to test the readers and settle on the best. So. which of the above is the best? My verdict; as long as you end up with any of the above readers, and it is able to serve your intended purpose, then that will be the best PDF reader!